There have been countless American women who have dominated the Olympics over the years, but did you know that the first American woman to win a gold medal at the Games was a golfer?

Her name was Margaret Abbott, and she won the women’s golf competition in Paris in 1900. This was the first and second Olympic Games to include golf.

There are a lot of subplots to this story, like Abbott never knowing he won a gold medal.

The 1900 Games were held in Paris, where Abbott, an American, was living with his wealthy family at the time. But those Olympics coincided with the World’s Fair, and the Olympic events were spread out over five months. They also received little publicity, and Abbott was among the competitors who never knew they were actually participating in the Games. Awarded an antique porcelain bowl decorated with gold, Abbott told his family and friends that he had won an exhibition.

More details about the event, according to usagolf.org:

The women’s golf competition consisted of nine holes ranging from 68 to 230 yards and featured 10 participants, all wearing long skirts and hats, as was customary for female golfers at the time. Margaret, aged 22, was a fierce competitor and shot a 47 to win, while her mother Mary shot a 65 to tie for seventh place.

Yes, Abbott competed alongside his mother.

Margaret Abbott later married Finley Dunne and had four children. She died on June 10, 1955, at the age of 76. It took another 20 years for a researcher to piece together all the pieces of this saga.

“It’s not every day you find out your mother was an Olympic champion after 80 years,” her son Philip Dunne wrote. Golf Summary Article from 1984.